I teach a psychology of women course at an undergraduate college in the USA. Sometimes I start the course by asking students to tell me what girls and boys are like, and specifically to identify the characteristics of each gender. My students have an easy time of this, and I write what they say on the whiteboard. The list for girls includes such things as emotional, sensitive and caring. For boys such traits as aggressive, tough and loud are suggested. Eventually, one student will save the day by interrupting the exercise and saying ‘I don’t really agree with these characterisations. They’re just stereotypes. They reflect what people think boys and girls should be like, not what they’re really like’. And of course that student is correct.
Belief in gender-based stereotypes remains strong even today. We continue to label certain personality and behavioural characteristics as ‘feminine’ and others as ‘masculine’ and expect people to conform to what we think is typical for their gender. Much research shows that pervasive social scripts and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity still shape how children are socialised, and how adolescents and adults behave in social situations.
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